1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to oxygenation devices and, more particularly, to a pediatric oxygenation device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To an EMS (emergency medical service) provider, the most gratifying accomplishment is saving the life of a child or pediatric patient. In both adult and pediatric emergency situations, it is important to provide a high concentration of oxygen to the patient. The single most important element to the body, for both adults and children, is oxygen. For adult patients, oxygenation is accomplished by applying a mask over the nose and mouth of the patient. Oxygen from an oxygen tank is supplied to the mask through a tube, such that the patient breaths pure oxygen. Pediatric patients, however, can be significantly more difficult to oxygenate than adult patients.
With pediatric patients, early and efficient oxygenation is more critical than with adults. Smaller airways prevent children from moving as much oxygen as adults, as well as make them more susceptible for choking on foreign objects. Further, children have smaller lung volumes, fewer and smaller alveoli (which are more susceptible to collapse) and lower hemoglobin levels, and hence less oxygen carrying capacity, The inability to move sufficient quantities of oxygen can be critical when the patient is sick or injured.
Smaller blood volume in a child further increases the difficulty of reoxygenating a pediatric patient once he or she becomes hypoxic. Not only is there less blood volume, but there is proportionately less hemoglobin to carry oxygen. Therefore, once a child becomes low on oxygen, a significant period of time is necessary to return their oxygen state to a normal level.
With the metabolic rate of kids being twice that of adults, their normal rate of oxygen consumption is much greater. Considering that the pediatric patient in an emergency situation is typically traumatized by illness or injury, the metabolic rate increases even more, as does the patient""s heart rate, causing an extreme demand for oxygen. Consequently, hypoxia occurs much quicker in children than it does in adults and it takes children longer to recover.
Unfortunately, administering oxygen to pediatric patients can be much more difficult than with adults. Children are easily intimidated by an emergency medical setting. Children are taught from an early age that strangers are bad and to stay away from strangers. So when strangers try to give aid to children, their apprehension is a very normal, conditioned response.
Additionally, some young children are unable to communicate and some older children do not have sufficient communication skills to communicate easily. Therefore, it is often difficult to determine their problem.
Because of a pediatric patient""s intimidation and his or her inability to quickly and effectively communicate with the emergency medical personnel, the administration of oxygen can be extremely difficult. Oxygenation using a mask, as is done with adults, is difficult because the natural instinct of many children is to fight against anything being placed over their breathing passages. This is particularly true in the emergency medical situation where the mask and oxygenation equipment is very strange to children. Accordingly, it is likely that a child will struggle with EMS personnel if a mask is placed on or near their face. Therefore, EMS personnel often hold the mask in the general vicinity of the pediatric patient""s face, but children will still turn away from the mask and become aggravated. Struggling increases the need for oxygen, while decreasing the ability to receive oxygen from the mask. As the child becomes more upset, the demand for oxygen increases and the patient""s consumption of oxygen increases, causing the child to become more hypoxic, possibly to a degree greater than before oxygen was administered.
A number of devices have been designed to administer oxygen or other gases to infants in non-emergency settings using a bottle nipple or pacifier. Such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,461 to Battaglia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,809 to de Greef and U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,593 to Press. These devices are not useful in emergency settings for a number of reasons. First, the attraction to a bottle nipple or pacifier is not universal, even in infants. Some infants, particularly breast fed infants, will turn away from a bottle nipple. Second, those infants who are attracted to a bottle nipple or a pacifier will want to put the object in their mouths and suck on the nipple, thereby eliminating the mouth as a source for receiving oxygen. Breathing oxygen solely through the nose can significantly decrease the volume of oxygen received by the patient. Third, a nipple is generally not attractive to older pediatric patients, who will resist, refuse, or have no interest in the nipple.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for a device for administering oxygen to a pediatric patient in an emergency situation which efficiently supplies oxygen and calms the patient.
An oxygenation device is shaped as a plaything. A connector on the plaything couples to an oxygen source for supplying oxygen. At least one outlet is coupled to the connector, such that oxygen from said oxygen source is dispersed in the area of the plaything so that a patient holding the plaything will receive a high concentration of oxygen.
The present invention provides significant advantages over the prior art. First, it delivers oxygen to a pediatric patient without adding to stress. Second, it may actually reduce stress in the patient. Third, it can deliver oxygen over a wide area, allowing the patient to interact with the plaything in a natural manner while maintaining a direct flow of oxygen to the patient""s mouth and nose regions. Fourth, the oxygenation device can be inexpensively made. Fifth, different designs can be used to appeal to a wide range of pediatric patients.